Rural Finance Authority Board

2018 Board Meeting Schedule:

The Rural Finance Authority holds its board meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at 1:00 p.m. The board meetings are held at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 625 Robert Street North, St. Paul. The majority of these meetings are conducted by teleconference. The duration of these meetings are usually under one hour. The schedule for 2018 is:

January 3

February 7

March 7

April 4

May 2

June 6

September 5

October 3

November 7

December 5

The meetings held the first week of July and August are canceled. One meeting is held toward middle of August (date/location yet to be set). This meeting is held out-state.

There are six public members appointed by the Governor. No public member may reside in the metropolitan area.

The Rural Finance Authority board consists of representatives from five state agencies:

Department of Agriculture (Chair)

Minnesota Management and Budget (Vice-chair)

State Auditor

Department of Commerce

Department of Employee and Economic Development (DEED)

Powers and Duties include: The authority’s purpose is to develop the state’s agricultural resources by extending credit on farm real estate security and depreciable agricultural property (improvements, machinery, animals). The authority carries out this purpose by purchasing participation interests in loans or selling Agricultural Development Revenue Bonds to agricultural lenders or individuals for the purchase of agricultural items. Another loan participation program provides for restructuring farmer agricultural debt. An additional program was added in 1994 providing assistance to lower equity farmers to purchase stock in a value-added processing cooperative.